Padres likely to receive unfortunate opt-out news on $75M starting pitcher

The San Diego Padres have a huge starting rotation problem. It's why they went out at the MLB trade deadline to pick up Robbie Ray from the San Francisco Giants and Casey Mize from the Detroit Tigers.

But that's not all. Over the 2026-2027 MLB offseason, the Padres are going to be losing a lot of key players to free agency. Mize and Ray will hit the open market, and Nick Pivetta might as well.

However, the worst could come with Michael King and his $75 million contract's opt-out. According to MLB.com's Mark Feinsand, King is likely to use his opt-out to hit the open market and seek a massive new deal this winter.

Michael King expected to opt out of $75M Padres deal

"It seems likely that King will opt-out, as he is widely viewed as the second-best starting pitcher on this winter's free-agent market behind only Skubal," Feinsand writes.

While some teams are going to try for the big fish in Tarik Skubal this upcoming offseason in free agency, someone like King has a more likely chance of receiving more widespread interest from many teams around baseball.

Teams on more of a budget will pursue King, and the losers of the Skubal sweepstakes could pivot to King for a chance to sign him to a big new deal.

Considering he's on a three-year, $75 million deal, he'd be effectively passing up the remaining $50 million over the next two seasons.

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But thanks to his 3.23 ERA this season with 3.5 bWAR and 135 strikeouts across 156 innings with a 124 ERA+, King is sure to receive some significant interest in the open market.

Beating that $75 million three-year deal shouldn't be too much of a problem for King. The 31-year-old veteran right-hander is bound to get a lofty new deal, one that lasts longer and likely pays him a lot more than what he's making with the Padres right now.

The Padres will still have a chance to re-sign him to a new long-term deal, but according to Feinsand, such an extension will likely have to come during the offseason in the open market, with King likely to opt out of his current deal with San Diego.

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